Alaska Robotics

Congratulations to Sitka weaver Teri Rofkar, recipient of the 2013 Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist Award!

I was commissioned to create a mini-documentary about Teri for the awards ceremony so Lou and I hopped over to Sitka and spent a few days with her. She was a charming ball of raw energy and talent, very much a woman of infinite youth.

Teri has been called a “living treasure” by the National Endowment for the Arts and has received numerous awards for her work. She creates beautiful, contemporary Tlingit art using traditional methods and lives her life with gusto.

When I found out Teri listened to metal while she spun her wool I had to include that, it was just too much fun. I like using local music on these kinds of films and this time around, the tunes were provided by Alaska metal bands Robert Landis and 36Crazyfists. Thanks to Charlie Green and Jessica Eller for getting me pointed in the right direction.

The Rasmuson Foundation provides herculean support for the arts in Alaska and, if you live here, you really should apply for one of their individual artist grants.

P.S. – This is the second year I’ve been lucky enough to produce one of these profiles, here’s the one from last year on Kes Woodward.

For those who missed the transition, I’ve stopped calling the Alaska Robotics Gallery Newsletter a “Newsletter.” We now have Spaceship Parties. They aren’t tied to any specific release date and we try to put some good news in there for everyone.

In this edition, Quilts!? – Puppets!! – Our One Year Birthday Party!!!

• Alaska Robotics Spaceship Party – 5/03/2013

Scott C. and Kate Beaton were so awesome!! If you missed them, you missed biiiiiig. But no worries, we have more events planned this spring!

On May 10th & 11th, we’re partnering with the Friends of the Library to bring another group of amazingly talented guest artists to do workshops in Juneau.

Georgina Hayns, the head of puppets at Laika will be visiting along with Jeremy Spake, head of armatures.

We’ll also be hosting Laika story artist, Vera Brosgol. Brosgol is one of my very favorite comic illustrators and has won both an Eisner and Harvey for her latest book, Anya’s Ghost.

Here’s a little pump-up video I found about Laika. Get pumped-up.

Woooooooooooo!!!!

We’re looking for a couple part-time employees who want to work at the gallery this summer. We’d like to find people who can work 10-25hrs/week on a semi-flexible schedule.

Resumes due to Aaron by 4/19.

We’re also casting for an upcoming television commercial. The shoot is around April 21-24. Actors will be needed for about 3 hours during that time and production assistants will need to be ready to rock throughout the shoot. Call the office or gallery for more info – 586-3440 or 523-0303.

The oil tax debate continues. Thanks to Senator Bill Wielechowski for being such a good sport. I’m still waiting for my phone call from Parnell’s office.

We have two amazing artists visiting Juneau this April and we have a whole bunch of fun events planned while they’re in town. Space is limited for the workshops so get registered early!!

Scott C

Scott C, sometimes Scott Campbell, is the creator of the online series called the GREAT SHOWDOWNS and Double Fine Action Comics. He was Art Director at Double Fine Productions on such games as Psychonauts and Brutal Legend. He recently began illustrating picture books with Zombie In Love and East Dragon West Dragon from Simon&Schuster. His paintings can be seen in galleries and magazines around the world. He lives in New York City in a house made of bricks.

Kate Beaton

Kate Beaton is the creator of Hark! A Vagrant, a comic often featuring historical and literary figures. Her collected volumes have won numerous awards and Hark! A Vagrant was named by Time magazine as one of the top ten fiction books of the year.

Events & Workshops

Saturday, April 13th / Noon – 2:00ish
Hang out and draw at the Alaska Robotics Gallery

Thursday, April 18th / 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Evening lecture at Goldtown Nickelodeon
Kate & Scott talk about their work and experiences

Friday, April 19th / 4:30pm – 7:00pm
Gallery party time, signing books, hanging out, eating cheese

Saturday, April 20th / 10:00am – 12:30pm
WORKSHOP – Brainstorming!!! Scott C will help you develop characters and backstory, this workshop is a great chance to roll up your sleeves and draw while learning about story and design. All Ages & Skill Levels are welcome!
*Workshop space limited!! – Register at Alaska Robotics Gallery

Saturday, April 20th / 1:30pm – 4:00pm
WORKSHOP – Find your Voice with Kate Beaton. Kate will share some super-secret ways to communicate your voice visually. Also, lots of drawing! All Ages & Skill Levels are welcome!
*Workshop space limited!! – Register at Alaska Robotics Gallery

The workshops are $15/each or $25 for both. If you can’t afford it, come talk to us, we’re very reasonable people.

For more information, visit us at the Alaska Robotics Gallery, 220 Front St.

Reality shows are the bottom of the barrel, they might even be the drippings that stick to the side of the barrel. In fact, I’m not entirely certain they came from the barrel to begin with. I’m pretty sure that’s what a guy like me is supposed to think of reality television.

That said, I’m loving Strip Search, the web comics reality show produced by Penny Arcade and Loading Ready Run.

I applied for the show, not because I wanted to win but because I liked the idea of running through a creative gantelope. Gauntlet. Whatever. Gantelope is a much better word.

I didn’t make the cut but I decided I should try doing one of the challenges anyway. For elimination rounds, the artists have 90 minutes to create a comic on a theme. I didn’t have Mike and Jerry taunting me the whole time but it was still difficult. I usually take between 6-10 hours to make a comic so this was a little harder than I normally push myself.

The theme I was given by @uncle_vinny was Bacteria and Breakups.

• Comic – Breaking Up

I guess this is my public testimony. I write and read and make things and I hope those things will float out into the world and help nudge our collective consciousness towards a better place.

I felt like this video was heavy handed and not as funny as some of the other political stuff I’ve done in the past but I’m also feeling the weight of a lot of frustration and futility. It was just a few years ago that we trudged through the VECO scandal and my faith in our state government never really recovered.

Ethics are as lax as ever, we have lawmakers who work for oil companies voting on issues that will directly affect their careers and pocketbooks. It’s a mess.

The amount of money Governor Parnell’s proposed tax structure costs Alaska over the next few years is estimated to be in the 5-6 billion dollar range.

To put that in perspective, for that amount, Alaska could own the New York Yankees, Manchester United, and the Dallas Cowboys.

According to the Forbes Global 2000 we could use that money to pick up Tesoro, US Steel, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, Goodyear, Safeway, or even bigger fish if we just wanted a controlling interest.

Or we could start our own oil drilling company.

The argument I usually hear against a state owned oil company is corruption and inefficiency. Well, the corruption is already there and a state owned oil company could only be more transparent to the public and lawmakers. Right now, people are trying to make important decisions based on speculation rather than information.

Inefficient? Yes, it would probably be massively inefficient but all those jobs and all that leaky money would stay right here in Alaska. It’s the Ted Stevens model of trickle down economics, corruption and inefficiency filling the pockets of locals and spilling out into the regional economy.

Whatever happens, oil is a finite resource and we should be preparing for decline and transition in the long game.

Also, I’m really tired of hearing about North Dakota. Let’s come up with a plan that works for Alaska.

Christopher Nolan did a great job with his Dark Knight trilogy but I couldn’t help thinking there was one guy who might object to the way he wrapped things up..

• Comic – Super Awkward